If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I'll echo what others have said about your defensive stance. In the first game I noticed that you often let the shuttle come to you for simple shots, even if this meant taking it lower. You will make things easier for yourself, and also harder for you opponent if you move to the shuttle and take it earlier.

In the second game I noticed that your reply to a straight drop was a stright net shot 99% of the time. When you served forehand, you served long 100%. My point is that if you are predictable, its' easier for your opponent. On your return of serve in the third game you varied it quite a lot, lifts and net shots - a lot o fthe nets your oppo only just got to.

XD match from Saturday's club championships in my smaller club. First match of the day in a hot gym with 5-10 min warm-up resulted in quite a few errors and a very frustrating score - 18-21, 21-23, I think. My usually accurate drop shots and blocks weren't accurate at all, forcing me to play the shuttle elsewhere as the other team's lady was quick onto the net.
Second game is being converted atm. I'm the guy in yellow, btw

XD match from Saturday's club championships in my smaller club. First match of the day in a hot gym with 5-10 min warm-up resulted in quite a few errors and a very frustrating score - 18-21, 21-23, I think. My usually accurate drop shots and blocks weren't accurate at all, forcing me to play the shuttle elsewhere as the other team's lady was quick onto the net.
Second game is being converted atm. I'm the guy in yellow, btw

I think, it is good, maybe you should try to find a way to smash them. especially to the other team's lady
the lady is pretty tall, that's why it gives her advantage when reaching some hard shots that you deliver

XD match from Saturday's club championships in my smaller club. First match of the day in a hot gym with 5-10 min warm-up resulted in quite a few errors and a very frustrating score - 18-21, 21-23, I think. My usually accurate drop shots and blocks weren't accurate at all, forcing me to play the shuttle elsewhere as the other team's lady was quick onto the net.
Second game is being converted atm. I'm the guy in yellow, btw

A few quick points, I have only watched bits of it so will give a fuller comment later.

@4:40, you flick serve the woman, at this point, and at this level, you should feel confident enough to take a couple of steps up the court to the service line, at least, ready to pounce on what quite evidently will be a loose back hand drop.

Other things to mention:

Your opponents are playing with forhand short serves, in doubles this isn't as effective (IMO) as a backhand low serve, mainly due to the lack of control available, and the lack of deceptiveness. If you play regularly against forehand servers, then maybe take a step up the court, be more intimidating, put more pressure on your opponent to make their serve a good one, and not one that allows them to get the rally underway without any pressure. If they flick serve you, it's more readible than a backhand serve.

So basically, when flick serving, especially when playing against the standard here, if they are forced to turn their back to the net, then you should take a step forward, racket up, and prepare to attack the return. If for some reason your opponent is able to play a back hand clear, then you should still have enough time to get back and cover it. And anyway even if you were to lose that one point, you would still learn some more information about your opponents ability which can help later on in the match.

Hope this helps, if you need clarification, just ask. I will comment more later.

About your partner, maybe get her to serve a bit higher up towards the waist more, she seems abit far down, if you know what I mean. It puts you at a disadvantage, there is more net now to cover, and hence more room for error.

Also, you might want to get her to follow the shuttle a bit more, if you play a drop shot, you want her to move towards the net, putting pressure on your opponent to lift and not to play a net. Therefore, you will still be on the attack. The tighter the shuttle is to the net, the further in your partner should be to the net, ready to pounce if your opponent is daft enough to return with a netshot.

A few quick points, I have only watched bits of it so will give a fuller comment later.

@4:40, you flick serve the woman, at this point, and at this level, you should feel confident enough to take a couple of steps up the court to the service line, at least, ready to pounce on what quite evidently will be a loose back hand drop.

Other things to mention:

Your opponents are playing with forhand short serves, in doubles this isn't as effective (IMO) as a backhand low serve, mainly due to the lack of control available, and the lack of deceptiveness. If you play regularly against forehand servers, then maybe take a step up the court, be more intimidating, put more pressure on your opponent to make their serve a good one, and not one that allows them to get the rally underway without any pressure. If they flick serve you, it's more readible than a backhand serve.

So basically, when flick serving, especially when playing against the standard here, if they are forced to turn their back to the net, then you should take a step forward, racket up, and prepare to attack the return. If for some reason your opponent is able to play a back hand clear, then you should still have enough time to get back and cover it. And anyway even if you were to lose that one point, you would still learn some more information about your opponents ability which can help later on in the match.

Hope this helps, if you need clarification, just ask. I will comment more later.

About your partner, maybe get her to serve a bit higher up towards the waist more, she seems abit far down, if you know what I mean. It puts you at a disadvantage, there is more net now to cover, and hence more room for error.

Also, you might want to get her to follow the shuttle a bit more, if you play a drop shot, you want her to move towards the net, putting pressure on your opponent to lift and not to play a net. Therefore, you will still be on the attack. The tighter the shuttle is to the net, the further in your partner should be to the net, ready to pounce if your opponent is daft enough to return with a netshot.

Thanks
I normally step up when my opponents turn for a backhand, but in XD, I'm somewhat hesitant to go to the net, it seems. Now that you mention it, I never really committed once on that day - mainly because we lost so many points when she went back.
Concerning my partner - we had played one match ever before this one (the day before), against a pretty weak MD. She had not trained for 2 months, I think, and got a whole lot better during the day, chasing the shuttle a lot better and killing more net shots. Which was a good thing, cause I had a full 2 hours of sleep the night before and got tired in the 6th and 7th match.
Regrettably, my batteries died not long after this one, forgot to charge the camera :/ This is the only good XD footage of me (the 2nd game is uploading), I filmed part of a later match, but the only other good one was later, when I couldn't film. I'll edit and upload the MD footage soon.

I think, it is good, maybe you should try to find a way to smash them. especially to the other team's lady
the lady is pretty tall, that's why it gives her advantage when reaching some hard shots that you deliver

maybe it's just your bad luck that day

Actually, she's from Korea...but yeah, I found it a bit hard to penetrate their defense, and couldn't change the pace as much as I wanted to. Normally, I throw in quite a lot of slice drops, but I made too many errors and lost confidence in my touch shots :/

Thanks
I normally step up when my opponents turn for a backhand, but in XD, I'm somewhat hesitant to go to the net, it seems. Now that you mention it, I never really committed once on that day - mainly because we lost so many points when she went back.
Concerning my partner - we had played one match ever before this one (the day before), against a pretty weak MD. She had not trained for 2 months, I think, and got a whole lot better during the day, chasing the shuttle a lot better and killing more net shots. Which was a good thing, cause I had a full 2 hours of sleep the night before and got tired in the 6th and 7th match.
Regrettably, my batteries died not long after this one, forgot to charge the camera :/ This is the only good XD footage of me (the 2nd game is uploading), I filmed part of a later match, but the only other good one was later, when I couldn't film. I'll edit and upload the MD footage soon.

I think one of the main things you can work on, would be your shot selection.

One thing I had noticed is that, when returning serves there were quite a few unforced errors, where you were under little pressure. If it is towards the end of the game, and you make these errors, then you are at the end of the day, giving your opponents free points. It's something that you could probably work on. In doubles, the first three shots are most important, if you return well, then you give yourself a good chance of winning the point, if you return out the court, then you give the opponent a point, literally for them serving into the court.

I think your game from the back of the court is good, you hve the right idea of trying to push/drive the shuttle as opposed to just lifting. Maybe you could be a bit more aggresive, although at the moment, it's not a key issue that needs addressing.

Decisiveness is key, especially in doubles. You need to make up your mind with what you are doing quickly, sometimes it's clear that when you return serve you get caught in two minds about what to do with it, which leads to the unforced error. If you are quick enough with your reactions, being a quick thinker on the court can lead you to intercepting the shuttle, and turning the rally in your favour.

You might want to consider doing some serve and return drills:

Get a partner to serve a variety of different services, mixing it up. Throw in some flicks as well, although it doesn't put you under a lot of pressure, It should help your shot selection, and your ability to pick out the correct return to play. Of course tour partner will gain from it as well. They will be able to practice serving when their opponent is near the service line, helping them serve under pressure. You can switch around of course.

you played much better in the second round
you did some smashes to opponent lady partner and she had a hard time to return it
but of course the main problem is, it is hard to get a chance to do a smash

you played much better in the second round
you did some smashes to opponent lady partner and she had a hard time to return it
but of course the main problem is, it is hard to get a chance to do a smash

P.S: what racket did you use? is that a Z-slash?

Yeah, surprisingly I like that racket a lot now. Pretty quick, but not too little head weight. The string is hard enough now, with softer string it just feels kinda weird. Smashes were not too shabby with it, despite the higher tension

2nd MD match of Sunday - slightly tired already, after 7 XD, 5 Ms and 1 MD matches since Saturday. Opponents were a scratch pairing and didn't work well together (which, being the nice people we are, we exploited as much as possible )

2nd MD match of Sunday - slightly tired already, after 7 XD, 5 Ms and 1 MD matches since Saturday. Opponents were a scratch pairing and didn't work well together (which, being the nice people we are, we exploited as much as possible )

That's not entirely true, but the smaller guy is less of a doubles player (and 60 years of age), and they never ever play together usually. They only did this time because they both wanted to play a few more matches and none had a different partner. Knowing that, my partner and I made sure to play lots of shots to the middle. They're also a left-right combination, which means both have their fore-/backhand in the middle, which confused them even more on some occasions.
Constantly putting them under pressure put off the tall guy, he likes being in control of the match and going to the front using his reach pretty well - unfortunately for him, I enjoy that too
Youtube is being a b*tch - I'm currently uploading the next match for the third time as the upload gets aborted every time for no apparent reason (size and length are both okay, as is my connection). In the meantime, here's the second game of the 2nd match.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZOtvBLlCNU